GROWING FUN (CTION) Delaware River Park Islands of Resilience

Site Analysis — Site located along the banks of Delaware River; Philadelphia. Project’s goal is to build the understanding of establishment of a clear, robust territorial framework vision for the entirety of the project area and find out the possible solution to mitigate the sea level rise issue and trying to develop the ability to make effective contributions to urban design problems.Download Hi-Res Image

Water Infiltration System — Water infiltration system as the mainstream to gather water from the neighborhood to the waterfront wetlands and then down to the river. Existing site condition includes the abandoned piers, landfills, rail yards and I-95 Highways as the linkage for the center. City.Download Hi-Res Image

System Consideration — Proposed scheme includes the overall plan for the entire community site and docking facility, visitor’s center, boat launching ramp, ecological park, and nature trails with the consideration about the Circulation, Green Systems, and ProgramDownload Hi-Res Image

Plan — The Park design focused on the Richmond portion of Delaware River, a vastly underutilized waterfront, along with its contiguous neighborhood, offers great potential for a new mixed-use development that will include a major residential development combining existing buildings and new construction.Download Hi-Res Image

Growing — Top: Phasing of Growing Wetlands. Middle: Process of Creating Mitigating Layers for Sea Level Rise – connecting the groups of growing islands to gather the sediments and gradually pile up the soil to create the lands in future. While the sea level is raising and the islands with the sediment of soil and concrete would be naturally growing in correspondently.Download Hi-Res Image

Perspective of Islands as Landscape Function — Growing process of islands would as creating the wetlands islands on the concrete piers and gradually convert to the natural protection of sea level buffer after years.Download Hi-Res Image

Reconstructed Pier combine with the islands would not only identify the strategy for sea level rise problem but more on providing the open spaces for the adjacent neighborhood and have the creation of a riparian corridor that incorporates many of the best features.Download Hi-Res Image

The comparison between the Existing Waterfront bank and Proposed bank with the steps and islands wetlands.Download Hi-Res Image

Image: Jun Zhou

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Project Statement

Site located along the banks of Delaware River, Philadelphia. As the one of the two waterways between which the first capital of the United States was founded. Project’s goal is to build the understanding of establishment of a clear, robust territorial framework vision for the entirety of the project area and find out the possible strategies to mitigate the sea level rise issue and trying to develop the ability to make effective contributions to urban design problems.

Project Narrative

“

Contextual, extending the grid of the city and hinting at the modernity of what could happen. Very ambitious in how it got down to the scale of how things work. Just marvelous.”—2011 Student Awards Jury

The Delaware River Park is located on a 300-acre site on the banks of the Delaware River, Philadelphia. It would create an experience that give residence and visitors a better understanding of the Delaware River and its history. Existing site condition include the abandoned piers, landfills, rail yards and I-95 Highways as the linkage for the center city.

Proposed scheme includes the overall plan for the entire community site and docking facility, visitor’s center, boat launching ramp, ecological park, and nature trails. The Park design focused on the Richmond portion of Delaware River, a vastly underutilized waterfront, along with its contiguous neighborhood, offers great potential for a new mixed-use development that will include a major residential development combining existing buildings and new construction. It would provide the open space and parkland along the river’s edge and the reuse of an historic piers is also anticipated.

The Park formulates a master plan based on the two concepts as the water infiltration system and the coming issue of sea level rise problem. Trying to layout this park as a test method to create a strategy for the mitigation approach of sea level rise same as the function of water infiltration system to gather urban storm water infiltrate to the constructed wetlands and into river.

Growing Islands and the Mitigation of Sea Level Rise Sea level rise is neither a new or recent phenomenon. Cities under such threat in the future days such as Philadelphia, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, New York, and Shanghai. However, the massive challenge for designers is how to use the effective ways to deal with that problem considered both functional and aesthetical. This park would use the islands to create a natural buffer for the mitigation of shoreline Erosion control approach. Connecting the groups of growing islands to gather the sediments and gradually pile up the soil to create the lands in future. While the sea level is raising and the islands with the sediment of soil and concrete would be naturally growing in correspondently. Such solution as the growing process of islands would as creating the wetlands islands on the concrete piers and gradually convert to the natural protection of sea level buffer after years. Such buffer would combine with the function of mitigating sea level rising but as the urban water infiltration system.

Reconstructed Pier combine with the islands would not only identify the strategy for sea level rise problem but more on providing the open spaces for the adjacent neighborhood and have the creation of a riparian corridor that incorporates many of the best features as: Created wetland,Grassed waterway,Vegetated buffer, Sedimentation basin and Infiltration basin system. It would offer a rich wildlife habitat, excellent fishing and a canoe launch and the various spaces for the communities with both Function and Fun.